February 13, 1980 XIV

LETTER OF ACCEPTANCES AND REJECTIONS

The following submissions are accepted and registered with the SCA College of Arms. Listed alphabetically by kingdom they are:

Kingdom of Ansteorra

Lasguaard Aglanar, called Red Fox. Gules, on a fess fracted and enhanced in sinister Or to sinister a fox passant reguardant gules, overall a bordurelet counterchanged.

Note: If Red Fox is a nickname this is acceptable usage, but if Red Fox is an alternate persona it should not appear in the name. Personally I don't like the usage of "called" and "known as" as it clutters the formal name with nicknames, but I'm not ruling on personal likes and dislikes. I think it would have been better to have said "called the Red Fox," as that is more proper usage.

Maria Elayne von Schwangau. Argent, on a fess wavy between two crosses flory azure a swan naiant argent.

Namron, Barony of. Or, a pile wavy throughout sable, overall a laurel wreath counterchanged.

Note: Piles are not normally throughout, just almost so.

Sharallele Anna MacEideard. (Formerly Sharallele of the Curly Locks).

Zoren uff Eiren. Badge. Sable, a heart gules voided Or and fimbriated argent.

Kingdom of Atenveldt

Alys Carvelsdatter. Badge. An angelfish naiant bendwise azure.

Note: Badges need not have fields specified. There are many species of angelfish but they all have the same basic outline and this is just a single specified tincture so there is no need for listing the genus and species.

Bruce the Long Winded. Badge. Sable, a griffin sejant, sinister foreleg raise, gules, fimbriated Or, maintaining in its beak a bezant.

Conrad Tolbert Regnault. Azure, a sword proper, balanced on its point a pair of scales Or.

Dawnbird Tramerlain. Badge. Azure, two piles in point argent, overall a mourning dove countervolant, wings addorsed, (Zenaidura macroura carolinensis) proper.

Hillary Stormrider. Badge. Argent, two arrows inverted in saltire sable, fletched gules, entwined with an ivy vine proper. (This is your basic ivy. Genus and species is not needed.)

Ioseph of Locksley. Badge. Argent, a seven­headed hydra passant vert.

John the Dragon Protector. Argent, an annulet vert, enflamed without proper.

Kingdom of Atenveldt

Lori of Mare's Tree. Quarterly azure and Or, in bend sinister a tree in autumn phase and a Bay horse's head couped, both palewise proper.

Marta as tu Mika­Mysliwy. Badge. Per pale sable and azure, a walnut inverted argent.

Mary Margaret of Derby. Badge. A domestic cat counter­passant or, in sinister base a goblet inverted bendwise sinister argent, spilling its contents gules.

Melissa merch Rhiannon. Tierced in point argent, sable, and vert, issuant from dexter base a demi­horse counter­courant sable and in sinister chief a dove rising, wings addorsed, argent.

Note: This was submitted as Melissa ab Rhiannon, but ab means son of, while merch means daughter of. I have corrected the grammar, as I will do in all such cases.

Kingdom of Meridies

Almarek of the Dunedain. Ermine, a mullet of four points gyronny argent and purpure.

Note: You can be of the Dunedain, as we allow place names from Middle Earth. The Dunedain were the descendants from the Numenorians, and this included much of the human population in Arnor and Gondor.

Ancient and Honourable Company of Watermen. Badge. Argent, a dolphin embowed naiant gules, in base three barrulets wavy and on a chief azure two boat oars in saltire argent.

Note: From now on I am going to list badges of groups that are not personal households separately, although I still require the name of a representative.

Cathal MacEdan na Faelad. Gyronny gules and sable, on a chevron throughout Or a cross moline notched of all four of the field.

Note: The cross is also gyronny gules and sable. This is the case where "of the field" is useful and allowable.

Cedrin Etainnighean. Gules, twelve penguins passant, wings addorsed, proper. (Speniscus sp.)

Note: Spheniscus is the genus. The sp. stands for species, ie any species. They all look alike to the untrained eye. If you can easily specify the appearance just by specifying the genus, use this form.

Chére du Bonvin de Bellevue. Paly Bendy azure and argent, in pale three manticores passant guardant gules, featured proper.

Note: The first name was submitted as Chér. The period name would never have omitted the gender ending of e. In fact that's why the accent is there, because of the second e.

Company of Navigators. Badge. Or, an eight­spoke ship's wheel proper charged with an arrow double­pointed fesswise gules.

Conrad Stronghand. Or, a wolf counter­salient sable, maintain a rose gules, barbed and seeded proper.

Conrad Stronghand. Badge. Or, a wolf's head caboshed sable maintaining a rose gules, barbed, seeded, slipped, and leaved proper.

Hunter's Glade, Shire of. Purpure a laurel wreath and on a chief Or a panther passant sable. (Pantehra pardus)

Jirel ni Cahil. Argent, on a pair of flaunches azure a talbot counter­passant and a pegasus volant courrant argent, in base a thistle slipped and leaved proper.

Johannes the Young. Azure, a domestic cat herissoné counterermine upon a trumpet argent.

Note: Herissoné means back arched and spitting, a very catly position.

Knikolos Major of Salem­by­the­Sea. Counter­ermine, on a bend gules between a mask of comedy and a hippogrif salient argent, an artist's brush Or.

Leah of Mercia. Or, a scarpe sable between a triple­towered castle azure and a rose gules, barbed and seeded vert.

Note: This is how it was drawn. If se wants a bend sinister it will have to be three times wider.

Madéléine la Réveuse. Azure, mullety Or, a tower argent within a bordurelet Or.

Mathom Trove, Canton of. Chevronelly inverted argent and azure, on a sun Or between three dragons dormant, those in chief respectant, sable a laurel wreath vert.

Mathom Trove, Canton of. Badge. Per chevron inverted argent and azure, overall a dragon's gamb erased grasping a sun Or.

Note: This is too wide and short to be a pile.

Mathom Trove, Canton of. Flag. Per saltire argent and azure, issuant in pale two demi­suns sable and issuant in fess two demi­suns Or.

Note: Flags must obey the rule of tincture. They count as devices.

Meridies, Kingdom of. Badge for Kingdom Poet­Laureate. Vair ancient, a lion's head cabossed Or, orbed and langued gules.

Meridies, Kingdom of. Badge for Local Poets­Laureate. Vair ancient, a hawk's bell Or.

Note: Badges for territorial branches should either obey the rule of tincture or have no specified field.

Meyer von Koch. Sable, on a heart throughout Or in pale a reaping hook and a roundel sable.

Michael Dolinar O'Mourne de Starhaven. Azure, on a pall Or a Florida panther's head couped reversed sable between three hearts gules.

Note: This was submitted as D'Starhaven, but one makes the élison only when one has de followed by a word beginning with a vowel or an unvoiced 'h.'

Nataal Dywyn. Per pale argent and azure, a cross formy and in chief a chevronell throughout counterchanged.

Note: The name as submitted was Nataal Dyvyn (vónonene Keletraah). You cannot have parenthesis in a society name. The language was given as Welsh, but 'v' does not exist in Welsh. I accordingly changed Dyvyn to Dywyn. The rest will have to be documented and without parenthesis. The translation was Nataal, adopted son of Dyvyn (called the "traveler"). I would like to know how one gets the "adopted son" with no added words.

Orlando Cavalcanti. Badge for House Maevrorn. Sable, a greyhound's skull bendwise sinister argent, wearing a fool's cap of two points parti­colored gules and Or, belled argent.

Patricia of the Northern Manor. Bendy sinister of four, gules and Or, a Colorado Blue Spruce tree (Picea pungens kosteriana) proper.

Rebecca of Twywn, called the Demanding. Badge for For Ty Mintys y Cath. Vert, a dagger inverted argent, hilted bendy sinister sable and argent, entwined with two stalks of catnip argent.

Siglinde aus Troso, called the Stupid Peasant. Vert, in saltire two wooden spoons proper, on a chief embattled azure, fimbriated, a dinner plate Or.

Note: This was submitted as Siglinde von Troso, etc. The use of von indicates nobility. If you want to be of a place but not noble the word is aus. Since she has an illiterate peasant persona I have used aus. If she wants to use von she will have to drop the stupid peasant nickname.

Siobhan ni Filidheacht. Ermine, fretty Or, on a chief azure three beehives Or.

Tanya of the Oak. Argent, a sprouting acorn slipped and singly leaved proper within a bordure gules.

Thomas Heath. Argent, on a heart gules a unicorn passant reguardant argent.

Kingdom of the West

Aelfwynn Gyrthesdohtor. Badge. A mullet of nine points voided and interlaced within and conjoined to an annulet argent.

Note: Only pentagrams (five pointed interlaced mullets) are forbidden.

Branwen of Cherry Bay. Gules, a boar's tooth necklace in orle throughout argent.

Dyon de Martel. Per bend sinister sable and Or, a scarpe counterchanged, in canton a salamander statant reguardant gules enflamed Or.

Nikolaj Zrogowacialy. Badge. A flat spiral horn of three turns reversed.

Note: Badges need not have any tinctures specified. This is from his arms.

Raoul the Urbane. Per bend sinister purpure and azure, a bend sinister counterchanged, upon the lines of division three German flutes bendwise sinister throughout argent, each pierced of seven holes sable.

Note: This is an imaginative way of fimbriating, where the fimbriations mean something.

Valkyrie Drömmefjell. Gules, a viking helm reversed Or, winged argent.

Note: Her mundane first name is Valkyrie, so she can use it, with Drömmfjell to difference it from one of the valkyries. A person can always use their first name, so long as they difference it properly. Nobody else can use Valkyrie as a name unless they also have it as their first name. This is a specific exception to the normal rules, granted only to her.

William of Hoghton. Badge for Hoghton Towers. Per pale sable and gules, a tower Or and thirteen bumblebees migrant bendwise sinister inverted proper. (Bombida sp.)

Note: By default the tower is on the sable, and the bees are 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, on the gules.

REJECTED SUBMISSIONS BY KINGDOM

Kingdom of Ansteorra

Bryn Gwlad, Barony of.

The arms and the badge for the Order of the Halberd are withdrawn in accordance with the request of the Lady Seanna de Fraser, Acting Seneschal to Bryn Gwlad.

Kingdom of Atenveldt

None (congratulations!)

Kingdom of Meridies

Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane.

You have listed Or, a cracked Greek "red­figured" amphora proper. What you have shown is not an amphora as I know them which always came to a point at the bottom. Since you obviously photocopied the vase from some book, I would like to see a copy of the whole page to see if they really did call it an amphora. I also do not like the idea of directly copying an existing vase. Furthermore the detailed figures and ornamentation are so ornate that it would next to impossible for anyone other than a superb artist to actually draw your device correctly, even working with a photocopy of your device. You might want to have pity on the poor scribe who some day will have to do a scroll for you with this on it. I would prefer to have a blazonable collection of figures on the vase in a simpler pattern. What you have is really a black­figured vase, where the black outer glaze has been scrapped off to show the red under glaze beneath. The figures themselves are black.

Culcleth Ohoni Ceatta y Masnachwr. Azure, a catamount passant guardant argent between three estoiles Or, all within a bordurelet sable.

For the last time, bordures in the SCA are on the field and do have to obey the rule of tincture! This is color on color.

Daemon Greysteel. Argent, issuant from dexter chief a leopard's head and dexter foreleg sable, armed and orbed argent, on a sinister quarter gules a phoenix enflamed Or.

First of all, this is an augmentation of the Ruger trademark. You cannot have charged cantons or quarters, either dexter or sinister, with straight lines of division. Change the phoenix to the standard heraldic phoenix to avoid conflict with Ruger and use some other line, such as wavy or invected for the quarter. The claws and teeth of the leopard should be colored to show up, such as gules or azure. You cannot put argent claws on an argent field and expect to see them. What species of leopard is that? We have to differentiate between the heraldic leopard and natural leopards. If you just want a basic natural leopard, call it a natural leopard in the blazon.

Domenica Farnese. Gyronny vert and azure, a mullet of six points within eight of the same in mascle argent.

The device is acceptable, but Farnese is the Ducal House of Parma. You will need to pick a different surname which is not a royal or high noble house.

Fritz Wilhelm Hammer. Sable, gurges Or, a mallet gules.

Unfortunately this is color on color, since the field is sable, and the gurges is a charge. This is because you have drawn the gurges so that all three corners of the escutcheon are sable. If you draw it so that the base point is Or then it will not be possible to say which is the field and which is the spiral. Then you have a divided field gurges sable and Or, and you would no longer have color on color. This is similar to the problem of barry of an odd number. I have called the charge a mallet, because that is what it really is. When you say a hammer in heraldry most think of a warhammer or Thor's hammer. If you want the canting term redraw the mallet to be like a Thor's hammer.

Godelind of Windemere. What you seem to have is Gules, a six­bladed paddle wheel shown in perspective throughout argent, coiled thereon a two headed serpent, its tail about the dexter fess blade, its upper head above the sinister chief blade, its lower head below the sinister base blade, sable.

First of all perspective is out of period. Second of all that is not a standard heraldic position for the serpent. It is too complicated a position to allow. Thirdly, the sable snake is mostly on the gules field, which is color on color. I suggest you start over, or considerably simplify.

Holtmar of Stonedown. Per pale Or and gules, three eagles counterchanged.

The eagles are displayed by default. The counterchange of this conflicts with several families in Papworth who have Per pale, gules and argent, three eagles counterchanged. There is only one point of difference. I suggest you turn the heads to sinister, to have the eagles displayed reguardant, or some other change.

Pellinor auf der Sturm. Counter­ermine, a chief arched embattled Or, issuant from the dextermost battlement of the chief a pile bendwise inverted gules, and issuant from the sinistermost battlement of the chief a pile bendwise sinister inverted azure, both conjoined in point to a plate.

This is not heraldry. It looks like the curtain is rising and the two spotlights are waiting for Mickey Mouse to come out and start the show. You have gules and azure on counter­ermine, which is a bad idea in the first place. I know you like theatre, but you can't put the stage on your shield. This sort of thing is completely out of period. I suggest replacing the spotlights with a mask of comedy, which will properly suggest theatres.

Robert Hightower. Sable, a bend sinister argent, overall a tower checky argent and vert, with two windows sable.

The name conflicts with Randall of Hightower, the first Principal Herald in the Society and formerly Clarion King of Arms. You would have to get Lord Randall's permission to have such a similar name. Hightower was the name of his household. What you have drawn is not what you have blazoned. The tower is not a proper checky, and the top of it is argent, not checky. You can get your windows by saying the tower is charged in bend sinister with two billets palewise sable. You should redraw it with the whole tower properly checky.

South Keep, Shire of. You have Azure, a tower issuant from a base embattled Or, in canton the Southern Cross constellation argent and in base a laurel wreath proper.

You cannot have the southern cross, as constellations are out of period for use as charges. The Southern Cross is not visible from the Northern hemisphere, and so is not appropriated for a Florida branch, or for any European area. I suggest if you really want to refer to the Southern Cross that you have a cross ending in four mullets of eight points argent in canton. You will know what it stands for, without it being a blatant landscape.

Troll Fen, Shire of. Sable, issuant from and fracting the first of three bar­cotices wavy coupe debased azure, fimbriated Or, a cypress tree and two stumps blasted trailing moss argent, environed of a laurel wreath issuant from the upper bar­coticed vert, fimbriated Or.

This is blatant fimbriation to foil the rule of tincture. The device is too busy. You cannot have bar­cotices like that. I suggest the following: Sable, issuant from a base barry wavy argent and azure a cypress tree blasted trailing moss from its branches argent, within a laurel wreath issuant from the base Or. Then there is no fimbriation at all, it still looks like a swamp, and it's easy to blazon.

Vanya Popovitch. Sable, a cock passant reguardant Or.

This conflicts with Chianti: Sable, a fighting cock Or. The only difference is position. (Rietstaap). Your badge: Per pale sable and argent, a cock passant reguardant Or and a poppy gules seeded Or is acceptable, but I will hold off registering it so you can change it to match whatever charge you choose for the device to avoid the conflict.

The following were passed long ago but were left off the last Ordinary and should be re­entered into the current Ordinary:

Margaret of Griffin Tower. Ermine, a demi­griffin segreant gules issuant from a tower Or, masoned sable.

Margarethe the Dog. Tierced en pointe vert, azure, and sable, a horse's head couped Or.

Morgan of Landour. Purpure, a pale dancetty argent, voided sable.

(Notice how short these old blazons are!)

This concludes this month's letter of acceptances and rejections. All rejections do have the right of appeal, so long as documentation accompanies the appeal. Pray believe, my Lords and Ladies, that I remain

Your Servant,

Wilhelm von Schlüssel